Cid peered through the Looking Glass
by Zoranonen
Summary: Cid returns to his alma mater to take on the role of Head of the Defense Committe. With nothing to do, the place quickly becomes a nightmare. Will his saving grace come in the form of an Ice Queen? Or will he just be forgotten dessert. OC- centric. Slight-AU. Bits of Crack.
1. Ravings of a Mad Man

**Hello, my name is Zoranonen; and this is my first fanfic. Heh, and I've been trying to think of an introduction that doesn't sound like an AA meeting intro.**

**Well this is it. I've been arguing whether or not to even post this (it being my first and all). But after a while I figured 'Screw it'. My hesitation comes from the fact that I havn't written a story meant to be enjoyed since I tried my hand at a children's Epic when I was eleven. Such a long, long time ago now. And since I've been out of school for quite some time now I'm sure that whatever smattering of skills I had, have gone the way of the cowboy. Although, I'm now pretty damned good at signing my name on stuff that takes away my money...I'm pretty sure that's a good sign of how great an author I really am.**

**Now, why RosaVamp? And Why Mizore? And what the hell guy, why are you doing a petty OC as a main when even experienced writers have a time with them (no proof on that one, just goin from what I've read in all of my fandoms). **

**Well, Rosario + Vampire capu II just happens to be my favorite currently running manga besides Claymore. And Mizore is just uber **_**cool**_**... Am'I right guys? Hah, frosty that one. Increadibly lame pun aside, I just like her character and Winter is my favorite season.**

**There are two reasons for the OC.**

**Number One: I'm an old'fashioned guy who likes monogmous couples. I don't wanna think about the Rosario Girls runnin a train on poor'ol Tsukune. So, I've made my own character who will eventually be hit by the 'I wanna have ur babies!' bus.**

**Number Two: There just aint enough red headed heroes out there. I mean I should know... cause I am one O.O**

**Number Three: I pilot a Tsukune/Moka ship yet fly a Mizore flag. It would be hard for me to be interested in a story where my favorite character has the options to: A) Have a Threesome with Tsukune/Moka, or B) Somehow override Tsukune's Love for Moka.**

**Be forewarned, my skill as an author sucks big'ol donkey nuts. Also my mentality is as juvenile as my skill. My process for writing goes like this "Ok... a comma here right?...k...I'll put a semicolon here just cause I like them. And screw tense! I'm just gonna hop around till I find one that I like. And whose speakin? Don't know don't care, I'm rollin with it." **

**I'll try to do better as time goes on, and as I get used to using my imagination again. But honestly I'm just writing this to fufill my need for an epic scale mizore fic (far too few on here I'd say, and I know that the only thing epic about this is my AN). And fun... I guess I'm doing this for fun. **

**I'm sure that everyone will be very OOC. I am also changing events in canon to suit my needs. To date, the only change is that the whole fairy-tale/alucard deal happens during the entirety of what **_**would**_** have been their third year. Work with me people, I barely have any of this planned out yet.**

**Disclaimer: I own no Character or premise or location or thought property of Rosario + Vampire. I only own my original characters.**

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**Some Place, Middle of Nowhere.**

A car rest on the side of the road surrounded by a swampy forest somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Dead trees, a full moon hid from view by cloud cover, and unusual fog created the feel of a lurid dark night. Barely seen through the copious fog, a hunched figure drags a load wrapped in a tarp out of the trunk of the vehicle. It then begins to drag its burden along the ground deeper into the swampland.

Slurping and squelching sounds could be heard as the swamped seeks to claim the figure. The only other sound being the crickets, frogs, and other night life singing a dirge, with percussion provided by the rustling of fallen leaves caused by the figure's luggage.

Stopping once it had found a suitable spot, the figure begins to unwrap the tarp. Inside lay an uncovered body and a shovel. The fog banked moved on… the clouds moved on as well, revealing that the figure has red hair tinged with white, an average build for a male, and an unremarkable face. The only thing out of place being it's pale and rotting skin.

It looks down at the corpse. Noting that its build is similar to his own. The sharp facial features were a bit too pretty for his taste, and its hair was a shade of brown that reminded him of dead leaves. While not perfect, such things could easily be remedied.

After picking up the shovel, it began to dig a hole in the slick mud. An arduous task due to the consistency of the ground causing it to fill itself back in. Eventually though, he had made a suitable water-filled pit.

He once more looked at the corpse near his feet.

"It's time", voice so hoarse that it was but a whisper. He began taking his clothes off. Gently folding then staking them into a neat pile. Sure that he was done, he nodded his head as if to double tap the deed. The man, this rotten creature of the night lowers its own body into the shallow pool it has made. For a while, all that can be seen of it is its upper torso as it tries to maneuver itself into a more comfortable position. Then nothing, save the bubbles rising to the top of the water.

After a few minutes they stop. Once again, the local wildlife is left to continue its song alone. A few more minutes and there is a gasp, followed by a scream.

The corpse is alive and sitting up stark straight. It stands and walks over to the pile of clothes left by their previous owner. Unfolding each garment and putting them on with just as much care as they had been folded. When the task is done, it looks at itself in the reflection of the man-made water hole.

In it he sees a figure wearing a combination of black steel-toe boots, loose fitting black jeans with dried mud around the bottoms, a black led zeppelin tee with a picture of a skeleton with wings, and a red zip-up hoodie. And then a face that is not its own. Hair a color that is not his own.

Using the tip of one boot, he kicks the water. Ripples obscuring his reflection from view.

He waits; Staring as the ripples cease and he comes back into view. Then he smiles. The reflection now shows an average looking red haired male who seemed to be in his early twenties. He grabs the shovel and tarp combo as he begins making his way back. Stopping when a phone rings from somewhere within his clothes. Taking it out, he looks at the number. It isn't one he recognizes; still, he answers it.

"Cid, I have an offer to make you".

**-Some amount of time Later- Yokai Academy, a living HELL**

At a destitute warehouse on the outskirts of Yokai Academy, Cid wiped the sweat from his brow, thinking that Mikogami's idea of security differed greatly from his own. As it was, he seemed to be nothing more than a glorified pack mule. For the past few weeks he had been carrying loads of texts to one class or another.

"These people really need to get with the digital revolution."

He sits on a stack of books on the side of the warehouse so that he may continue his aside with a modicum of comfort, "I mean… there has to be complaints about the weight of these things right? Well…most of the students are probably stronger than a gorilla, so maybe not."

A sigh. He was now leaning back so that he could rest his head against the ancient wooden structure. "And I mean, would it really be so hard to at least get a dedicated line for internet around here? They have the toll-phones."

He looks towards the sky. The weight of it pressing down on him. "No… that would make it too damned easy on me wouldn't it…"

The sky still had that odd aura about it. It was the same perfectly controlled environment that he remembered. He missed being out in the real world. Missed the way the wildlife could be heard, missed the way that the weather would through a wrench into his daily work. He missed anything that would stop the monotony of waking up, working till he dropped, then going to sleep just to repeat it the next day. Mostly he missed being on the internet.

"Digital revolution…needs to get here soon."

Aside from the students and faculty, this place seemed so dead. Not that he should care, but Cid missed being able to pretend that he was an average human.

Goodness they worked him too hard. "I wasn't built for this", he said as he rubbed his face

Why had he accepted the job offer? He was sure that on any other day he would have ignored the call. It had just been the odd timing that led him to accept it. And never in a million years would he have believed that Mikogami, the head honcho of Yokai-Academy would be calling to offer him a job as head of the renewed Yokai-Academy Defense Committee. He also never would have figured that his new job would involve carry such heavy loads day after day.

"There's actually not much you should have to do" Mikogami had said. "Since Alucard and Fairy-Tale aren't around to take in all of the rebellious monsters anymore, we felt that gathering somewhat of an official defense group would help drive away any would be attempts to harm the academy and those therein. You won't be much more than a figurehead. A sign that we have taken steps to defend ourselves. Honestly, I don't see getting any more members for it unless the need should arise. I doubt that anyone is ignorant enough to try anything." What he hadn't said was that since there was nothing to do, other members of staff were going to find ways to make him useful.

"No one should just laze about here at the academy; there's always work to be done" a cheerful witch with long black hair and matching black corset had said. He was sure that Ruby, as he had learned her name to be, was secretly sadistic.

Something wasn't right with that one.

When she wasn't forcing unbearable loads onto him, she would be paging through books showing different ways to tie knots in rope, the amount of friction caused by different kids of rope, or a guide to drawing the female anatomy as if it were encompassed with rope. One day he had dared peek over her shoulder while she read.

He hadn't mentioned anything to anybody, for fear of getting even more work thrown his way. But Ruby loved rope in a way that no living woman should feel about an inanimate object. Rope would never be the same. He wondered how he could even tie his shoes anymore.

So at least there were a few things here and there to keep the darker parts of his mind occupied, still, the endless repetition was beginning to wear him down.

Sometime during his reverie he had shut his eyes. Blocking out the sights that reminded him of where he was. Until he began to notice the sound of rapid footfalls he had been drifting asleep. Whoever it was they were headed in his direction. Opening one eye to investigate; he saw a young woman in the distance.

She had the oddest shade of lavender colored hair he had ever seen. When he thought about it, he wasn't even sure if he had _ever_ seen purple hair before. 'Well…there was that chick a few years ago, but I'm sure she's graduated by now…maybe a sister or some other kind of relative'

Lavender chick was most definitely heading towards him. Her form was growing closer every second, and he began to get a better picture of her.

Light purple hair, pale soft skin (his dark side imagined the softness), odd clothing that consisted of a green academy mini skirt and loose shirt along with long socks, white shoes, and a horde of monsters chasing after her in the background.

He ignored them in favor of his more animalistic need to ogle.

Even closer now. Her facial features coming into focus. Her eyes a vivid blue with a bit of purple mixed in near the top, a stick for what he assumed to be a lolly sticking out of her lips. And fear. So that meant that the abominations chasing her definitely meant her ill. If it were not for the fact that she was running wild and he was supposed to be a protector, he would even say she was beautiful.

When she reached him, instead of stopping to for help, she ran straight by him through the open door of the warehouse. All the while shouting that he too should run. Her voice too calm to match her current predicament. It was at this moment that he did what any other member of faculty should do. He ran for his life in the same direction she was, which was through the only exit to the building.

When he entered, he noticed that he had lost her. Aside from being a bit colder than usual, it was the same enormous hell that it always seemed to him. Mountains of books that served as a reminder to what he would have to do during his stay here as 'Defense Minister'; as he had taken to calling his position. Sneaking through the maze of crates, books, and other assorted warehouse like items; his attention was drawn to a rather large pallet leaning against one of the walls that had a hand made of some translucent blue substance waving.

Hand language. He was sure of it. It had to be... The hand was telling him to 'Get over here!'.

Curiosity demanded that go investigate, as did the sound of a crash that came from the entrance of his shelter. Inside of the slatted screen created by the pallett, he began to make out the figure of the lavender haired runaway that had entered the warehouse a few seconds before him. When he was close enough to it the side of it, she pulled him behind the crate as well.

"Hey! What-.."

**shhh**. She had her finger and was forcing air out of her mouth on the side opposite of the lolly-pop now. Making the international signal for 'Shut the hell up'.

"But wha-"

**SHHH**. Louder this time, the international signal. "Just shut up before Hozmel finds us" she said.

Silence was his answer.

"There he is." She was pointing to the living mountain that had just rounded the corner some ways ahead of their hidey-hole.

A brute of a man that held scars all over his body. Hozmel's skin had a reddish grey hue and seemed to be an amalgamation of rock and flesh with vein-like protrusions. It, whatever the humanoid figure was, had a short squat face despite the size of its body.

Dumb was the word that came to mind when Cid tried to piece together the expression on it's face.

"Who's that?" Cid was surprised he was allowed to speak. 'You're goin places Cid my boy'

A moments silence as the answer came, "All I know is he calls himself Hozmel-" then she saw his minions appear from around the corner as well, "and those are his droogs... I have no idea who they are. "

He swore he could see a smile tug are the corner of her lips.

"He didn't introduce me to them. Only tried to kill me after I threw a bit of sharp ice towards his crotch ."

When the young woman mentioned her knifing his nads, he noticed the pool of blood that had formed in the pelvic region of this 'Hazmel's' britches. By now Cid had unconsciously moved his hands towards his own crotch. Male fear is a force that has moved mountains that were in possession of testicles. "What did he do that made you want to knife him in the dingus?"

A slight blush crossed her checks. "He... He slapped my ass."

Overkill.

He could see now that she must have been some kind of being derived from ice. Her hands resembled an icy claw. 'That would explain why it's so damned cold now', he mused. 'A pure breed of monster too no doubt. The kind that held resentment to border beings and the like.

It was beside the point; there were larger problems at hand.

"We should try to quietly make a whole in this wall to escape" a hopefull look in her eyes.

"No, that won't work... Mikogami did something to the place to make it nearly indestructible when I tried to burn it down so I wouldn't have to work so hard..."

She looked dumbstruck. "What kind of teach are you anyway? Why'd they hire a bum like you?"

He shook his head, a slight laugh as he did so. "I'm not a teacher, I'm the head of the academy's defense committee! And I'm not a bum!"

"Well, now that I'm resigned to my fate, at least I can be happy knowing that you're only gonna get **me** killed instead of torture a bunch of innocents like the last committee..."

Cid figured that he had heard worse, somewhere...maybe. No, never. He felt guilty. His heart had been gouged with sarcasm. Not wanting to dwell on the consequences of his actions, Cid peered through a slit in the crates. Hozmel's gang was getting closer. "Well, do you know if they are carrying around holy water? What about any religious artifacts? Religious texts? Actually…any _thing_ holy?"

She looked at him like a child would look at a complex mathematical equation; ie, she didn't understand a thing about him. " I don't think so. I mean, yokai don't just go around carrying things around than are deadly to them… I mean… do _you_?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm just making sure that they can't do any permanent damage."

The look again. This time as if he was an alien creature. "Then what does it matter? There still going to be able to tear us apart when they find us!" Her voice almost a shout.

Lavender's ice talons grew as her temper did. He was sure they knew where they were now due to that outburst. Thankfully, Hozmel continued his ice-berg like gait while the goon squad checked inside crates and under piles of books and stationary. These guys were thorough. They **would** find the two eventually. Cid looked at the girl who had bumped into him and ruined his break. Should he sacrifice his (mostly new) body for someone who he had barely met? Having once been human, would she hate him if they survived?

Confusing his silent reverie as incompetence, she continued to speak. "Look, I'm a yuki-ona alright? We're usually A-ranked and I'm a damn good one. I could probably even take on a single weaker S-rank by myself-"

Cid was surprised with how forward she was about her talent, but it didn't seem as if she were bragging; merely stating a tactically important fact.

"-But, I can't take all these guys on, on my own. We can't make it out of this unless you help me. They'll try to kill you now too probably. Especially since you're faculty and you know that they're up to."

'Well..' he thought, 'it is my job… and…she is…' Cid checked the slit again to see that Hozmel's group would be upon them within a minute. "True. Y'know, aside from being a damn good Yuki-ona you also make a damn good point. Ok, here's the deal. I'll go out first. _You_ don't come out until after they cut me down. But when you do, come out swinging. Hit these bastards for everything you're worth 'k?"

She was shocked and her eye's showed it. 'Was this guy an idiot or just plain suicidal? Didn't he know that he shouldn't be so apathetic in regards to someone's, and even his own, life?'

"Listen guy: Didn't you just hear me?-" she was now waving her hand in front of his face and her voice was moving far above the silent whisper that had kept their conversation hidden behind the pallets. Even still she seemed to be content in continuing her tirade. "I said that there were too many for me to take on by myself. How is your dying going to help my odds huh? And do you even care about _your_ wellbeing, huh! We can both get out of here if only we think about it some more" The more she let her emotions take over, the colder it got inside of the warehouse. Luckily Hozmel already knew Cid and the Yuki-ona were hiding in here somewhere; if not it would have been a dead giveaway…heh.

Cid began to reach out, intending to calm the young woman with a reassuring grasp on her shoulder. He quickly reconsidered this, when a fierceness he knew as the stank eye appeared on her face. So instead, he held his hands up in front of him, palms out. "Sorry, just trying to comfort you." Her features didn't change. "I don't need reassurance from you." He let out a sigh.

Hozmel was almost at them. They were out of time. "Hey-", he thought that maybe he should explain… but they didn't have the luxury of time "just give it a chance alright?"

So he ran. He ran so far away. Yes he ran, without giving her the chance to argue further. Charging out from behind their cover to confront the beast and his cronies. Instead of just pulverizing him, they wait as he charged headlong into their leader.

"Surely you jest?" Hozmel's attention solely on the would-be hero punching his chest.

"Hey guys look at this. I think we found one." He reached out for Cid's arm; breaking it as his fist wrapped around the appendage. Cid would have shrieked in pain but stilled the urge when he thought that might would entice the yuki-ona into action.

"Hey punk…" Cid yelled through gritted teeth. He knew what was sure to come would hurt, but he had to let it play out. "Why don't you mess with someone your own size huh?" Clichéd? Yes. But his intents were to anger the golem instead of wax-poetic to it. Hozmel showed a slight quirk of his lips. Obviously a smile by his standards. _It was not reassuring_. This was going to hurt.

"Maybe it is YOU that should be playing around with someone else!" With this he grabbed Cid's other arm, breaking it as well. Once again Cid forced himself through the pain; clinching his jaw so hard that it broke teeth.

"Do you know where the girl went?" The sight of this ugly brute cocking his head to the side like a dog as it queried him would have been funny were it not for the ill-intent.

"No, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. You worthless piece of trash."

Once again, Hozmel let off a show of quirking his lips. By his smirk it was obvious to tell that he was enjoying this.

Cid prepared himself for what was about to come.

"Well then, that means that you're useless doesn't it?." With something akin to the sound of someone ripping apart a rather large chicken wing he pulled Cid in half, his clothes falling apart as he did so.

Hozmel did it slowly.

It was excruciating. Cid had believed that only his arms would be yanked off. Apparently his flesh said otherwise; though his head did choose to stay on the side it apparently favored. As he lay on the floor, barely coherent, he saw his body's blood and gore pool around him. Hozmel stared down at him from overhead. The golem's lips moved, but Cid was in too much pain to understand the words that came out. He had not been prepared enough.

"Good-bye little man." With a curb-stomp of nuclear proportions, Cid's head was obliterated.

Mizore saw it all.

The way the obviously weak yokai ran from out of their bastion to tango to-to-toe with the big bad, all the while doing no damage what-so-ever. She saw as he was stilled. Heard the crunch of bone. She had wanted to retaliate, but now she knew what he was about. He had apparently known that in an all-out fight he would have been useless. So he had chosen to distract the behemoth. He had told her to wait until he was dead. It was hard, but she understood. Sometimes you can't save them all. There has to be sacrifices. And he had chosen to let _her_ live. She decided to wait until the deed was done. And when they were content with their victory, she would give them a taste of her very own frozen hell.

Then it happened. She saw the stranger, the mook in knights armor, torn asunder. She had heard of things like this happening. People receiving cruel fates even though they didn't deserve them. But she had never seen a death quite like this. To say she was horrified would have been an understatement. Mizore felt sick to her stomach. The only thing she could do was stare slack-jawed at the happenings in front of her. During their short time in hiding, she had gotten used to the fact that there was someone whom she didn't really know, but was still an acquaintance she would be able to nod her head at as they passed through the academy's halls. But to actually see someone she knew a tad bit _killed,_ rattled her.

She hadn't truly registered the ways in which he could be maimed, tortured, and eventually made plain'ol dead. She had hoped that it would be quick and painless, but this… _This_ was not quick nor was it painless. In a way, maybe she had figured that Tsukune and the gang would show up and save everyone.

His eyes wandered. His head lolled around as if trying to comprehend what had happened. He was soon to be dead, she knew. But he was trying so hard to hang on to the last threads of life. It was sure to be exponential more painful than if his will to live had fled during the assault. Then, a tremendous boom. The only thing left of his bright red hair and pale face was a crater where his head had been. The blast from the stomp shook her out of the trance. She would forever remember his face, the way it smiled through the oozing blood when he had looked at her and mouthed out a single word.

He had said "Now".

Her anger once again took over. **Hell Will Freeze.**

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**Next time on CpttLGNOP**

**Mizore sat in a broken heap next to the scattered remains of the stranger. "You sacrificed yourself for me... BITCH I'M IN LOVE, gimme that thigh bone!"**

**Not really. Now remember, this is my first time. Don't burn me too hard or it'll hurt my poor 'old heart and I'll keel over.**


	2. Chapter 1 point 5 Bonus Scenes

**Hello again, Zora speaking.**

**Ok, due to some confusion I will be explaining some things here instead of letting the story tell it. (But then I'm sure it's hard enough to read without waiting for me to explain some of the finer details later on)**

**Cid is aged at 20. I describe it as 'early twenties' due to his bodies decaying at a much faster rate once he has taken them over. I'm trying to avoid any stu-like qualities, but since this is really the first time I've tried my hand at fiction I'm probably failing. If you see anything that makes you think he is a stu, tell me, and I will attempt to redo it.**

**Mizore is 19. Since the events currently taking place in the manga would have happened during her third year (where she would be 18). She is having to redo the year because of the time taken off from studies to battle evil and whatnot.**

**If this seems like a lacklustre explanation, then that's because it is. Or at least it seems half-assed but fairly reasonable to me.**

**I know the story is hard to read right now, but this is a work in progress and I'm trying to get a bit of skill at spinning a yarn. I would actually love to get some constructive criticism if any of you fine people deem it worthy~though I doubt it.**

**Well anyways, here is a bonus non-relevant short chapter that started when I realized that I had left a sentece or two out of the last chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Rosario to Vampire is not mine.**

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**Still in the Middle of No Where**

After double-checking everything to make sure that nothing in his appearance was out of order, Cid recovered his shovel and began filling in the hole. The task feeling much easier than it had been when he was digging it out. It also served to help him gauge the limits of his new body. Why tiring nowhere near as fast as his previous one; it was still inarguably human.

It took ten minutes of shoveling and another five reassuring himself that no one could find the body, finally he was ready to leave. He turned to leave the swamp, then fell face first into the mud. His feet had sunk in while he was preoccupied. "Damn" Now the wildlife seemed to be laughing at him. Mocking him even. After picking himself up and wiping off what mud he could; he once again pick up his shovel. In his mind he prepared himself for some of that good ol'fashioned ultraviolence.

"Ya Damned Vermin!"

With a battle cry for the ages, he set about quelling the wildlife's Mockery of him.

After he had silenced the swamp and worn himself out, he picked up his tarp to complete his tarp and shovel combo…

**In a room at yokai academy, In which Mizore tries to say Shhh**

**Phh Pop Thud**. Then a sigh, followed by the sound of footsteps. **Phh Pop... Thud**. "Damn…" More footsteps. **Phhhsshhphh Pop Thud "**Damnit!" Mizore was angry. That was her thirtieth try today. That anger showed in walk that was reminiscent of a child's tantrum. It seemed that no matter what she did, the end result was the same. Not the sound she was looking for and the recipient of her oral fixation laying on the floor.

The last try had been her closest yet. It was so infuriating that the anger as well as the tantrum spread. She shook her fists and leaned her head back in an attempt to yell in frustration. The only that emerged was a sickly garbling, the result of the lolly pop sliding off of her tongue and lodging itself within her throat.

For a moment she panicked. For an instant she ran circles around her room wondering which one of her neighbors would help her if she knocked on their adjoining wall. For a second she even beat on her chest as if she were Queen Kong. For all of the duration of her silent struggle she forgot about her room door…


	3. What is, Isn't

**Welcome to Chapter 2 of cpttdpppdwl. If you've made it this far. Congratulations.**

**Note: This IS OC-centric. That means that my OC _will_ be the main focus of this fiction. I have even marked it in the summary as so. So I do not know what anyone who hates OCs would be doing here. Why would someone read a story that they clearly have no interest in? I'm at a loss.**

**Also, Note: Just because this is OC-Centric, it does NOT mean that I hate Tsukune. I just have no intention of ruining his character by writing a fic about him. I'm not good enough at keeping characters in... well, 'character' to write a fic with no one but canon immigrants.**

**Special Note: Beep Beep, I'ma a Jeep.**

**Disclaimer: Rosario to Vampire and all characters/plotconcepts/places therein, are property of RosaVamp's respective owner. Only the original stuff is mine.**

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**Landscape – Dreamscape**

Cid and Mizore stood face to face in the middle of a barren landscape. There were no sounds besides their breathing. No colors besides the stranded duo and the light orange of the sand beneath their feet. There was no life. Other than the two, everything was dead. Even the air was stagnant. If this were a western, a tumble weed may have even passed by. That was an impossibility though because the wind had absconded from it's duty; to a place far from here.

"Hey, Mizure, did you hear that?"

"_ore_."

"Uke!" instead of his average voice leaving his mouth like it always had, it was replaced with one of a higher tone and an effeminate lisp. Also, his body had taken to a flamboyant pose that combine a pelvic thrust and a haymaker.

After a sigh and a shake of her head, Mizore reiterated, "No. Miz_ore_, my **name** is Mizore. And come to think of it, how did you almost get it right! We don't even know each other! Are you a stalker or something?"

"Oh…" Cid thought of apologizing, but decided instead to defend his position. "I only know it because I heard an omniscient sounding voice say 'Cid and Mizore stood' blah blah blah. It is still describing everything that we're doing. I'm sorry that I must have misheard it, but I figured that since it got my name right; _Yours_ must have been Minore."

"**MIZORE!**" A shout. Mizore's shout. By the standards of a human it would have been loud enough to bust an eardrum. But it hadn't. The vastness of their surroundings had swallowed it, effectively dulling it.

"Mizore! Mizore, Mizore, Mizore, Mizore, Mizore!" Out of breath and almost tongue tied, Cid took a moment to compose himself. "I'm sorry that I got your name wrong, OK?"

"It's fine, Cid. I guess I can forgive you." A smile graced her lips as she started again to speak "Especially since you're hearing things. What I mean to say is 'I guess I can forgive you of the fact that you're crazy and somehow partially correct'. We're probably going to have to work together to get away from Hozmel, so I shouldn't burn my crazy-ass bridges eh?"

She was correct. Standing twenty meters in front of them stood Hozmel – only now he was covered in blood and hoarfrost.

"What the fuck!" A shout; this time from Cid. The effect once again lost to their surroundings.

Mizore did not appear to be as distraught as her companion. Neither moving nor speaking, she mearly observed.

"Mizore! Come on, we got to do something. Anything! That guys formidable, but you can still beat him right? I mean… he's going to try to kill us right? You said it yourself when you first ran into me 'He'll try to kill you too', that's what you told me! Where are we anyway?"

"But he did kill you, Cid. You're already dead. Now you're in hell."

"Huh? But…but… what about you? Did he kill you too?"

"Everyone's dead, Cid"

Without moving a muscle, the goliath called Hozmel, was upon them. Hozmel stood face to faces with Cid and Mizore.

"Mizore… I'm sorry – I should have been able to keep you safe. It's my job y'know. Mikogami gave it to me. It was my job to keep all of you safe and I've failed you." When confronted with his end, all Cid could do was grovel. It was always this way. He was never one to accomplish things. He never got the job done, He just moved on.

"It's fine now Cid. Everything's going to be alright. See, he's gone."

Sometime during his pleading, the golem had disappeared. Cid looked around, going so far as to twirl, but still caught no sight of Hozmel.

"Good. That's great! Hah, now I guess we aren't going to die huh? Well… I mean we won't die _again_ at least." Satisfied, Cid adjusted himself and once again returned his gaze to the ice-queen.

"No, you're still going to die." Mizore had transformed into her natural form. Sharp blue bundles of ice extending from where her hands should have been.

"Why?"

Having already been resigned to death, it seemed no big deal to be faced with it again. Cid could face any death, any torture, now that crawled from under the weight of pride and dignity. "What's going to Happen?"

"Simple. I'm going to stab you in the face."

Mizore reached out to Cid, holding her hand in front of his face. "It's time" she said; just as a talon extended itself through Cid's skull.

**Warehouse, Outskirts of Youkai Academy**

Cid felt cold. More so than he had ever been in his entire life.

"…"

So cold that he couldn't speak. Now sound came from his lips. When Cid tried moving his hand to his mouth to make sure that he still had a mouth, he notice that he could not move either. It was odd. Even his vision was odd. Was he still dead? Realization hit. His body was frozen almost entirely in ice, all except a single hand.

His body!

He remembered that he had, in fact, been killed by Hozmel. Cid had been bisected in a horrible fashion.

Mizore.

He remembered the name of a girl that had been a year his junior during his stay at the academy. After thinking on it, he was sure that the unconscious assumption from his dream was correct. Mizore and lavender were one in the same. They looked the same, sounded the same, they even seemed to have the same abilities.

Since he could not speak and he could not move, he elected to observe. Through eyes frozen shut, he was granted with a kaleidoscopic view of what must have been a battle.

Or a slaughter.

Body parts and organs littered the ground. Jagged cuts having separated them from their host bodies. With so much damage, the bodies themselves seemed to have bled out. A torso here, a shattered pile of meat there.

It was brutal.

Whatever the events that had transpired while he had been knocking on deaths door, a one-sided battle had taken place in the warehouse.

He knew as much, because the only being left standing had been Mizore. She stood just ten feet from where Cid's form had been been frozen in place. The poor soul. Whoever had owned this body previously must have been taken by surprise. It stood upright, with hands held straight by it's side. No posture that signaled that it was ready for battle.

Mizore was talking. Yelling to Hozmel who lay broken at her feet. He was missing more than a few appendages. Further inspection showed that what had been his reproductive organ had been sheared off. It lay like a forgotten hotdog at a fair. Just out of the golems reach. Finally she seemed to have had enough and kicked him in the head, knocking him out cold.

Mizore turned, prepared to leave the wrecked and broken monster behind, and stopped. The hand of a frozen goon whom she had forgotten to shatter was moving.

Figuring that he was lucky to be alive, and that there had been enough death today. She commanded her ice to break off. As Mizore watched his, as she noticed this goon was a male with short black hair, body drop to the ground; she turned towards the exit. Once again contempt with having killed all of his friends, and castrating their leader. It was enough. The strange man had been avenged. Mizore walked past him as he took in a lung full of fresh air.

A scream. No, that did not do it justice. A banshee's wail. A piercing shriek that threatened to destroy her eardrums.

"Shut up!"

It was no use, her words were drowned by the unending din. So she set forwards with her next option. Mizore walked back towards the screaming demon, her first raised and covered in a sheet of hard ice. Just when she was about to swing, the sound stopped. "Humph." Thinking that she could finally get back to the academy proper, she turned and set out once again towards the exit.

"Hold up."

Now it spoke to her. She was tired of the constant back and forth. Mizore was ready to leave, so she just kept on walking.

"Hey now, wait it. It's me! Remember, I got split then stomped. That was me!"

Her attention hooked, she deigned him with a look. A question in the form of a face. She wanted to know what he meant.

"How?"

"Well, you see… I'm a poltergeist so… I can't die."

Mizore cocked her head to the side. "Really?" Her monotonous tone disparate to the curiosity shown in her body language.

"Wait, I need to do something. I'll show you. I can change the way that I look. I do it all the time when I switch to a new body."

It didn't take long. His skin color changed first, shifting from a pastel brown to a pale peach color. Then his body, shrinking back body fat and growing a few centimeters to the gangly form he preferred. His face morphed next. At last he focused on his hair, causing it to turn an orange-red.

Without some form of mirror, it had been difficult. When he was sure that he had gotten it at least half right he continued talking, "See it really is me. I'm sorry about the screaming by the way… it's something that just… happens."

He reached his hand out in an attempt at a handshake. "The name's Cid by the way."

After eyeing him up, she reciprocated. Her skin felt like an ice cube in his hands.

"Mizore."


End file.
